A tracking system for planes will be applied during 2016 on most of the flights around the world, Hussein Dabbas, the regional vice president for Africa and the Middle East at the International Air Transport Association (IATA), said.

In statements over the phone, carried by the Saudi Al Eqtisadiah newspaper on Friday, Dabbas said the Arab Air Carrier Organization (AACO) held several meetings with representatives of many countries around the world, including IATA member states, to get the approval of their governments on the new system.

Dabbas, meanwhile, expected the profits of airliners in the Middle East to reach $1.8 billion by the end of the current year.